Aphrodisia
by Dana Doggett
Summary: John and Dana take a well-deserved vacation in Cyprus, and get involved in an investigation that has ties to Greek mythology.


Title: Aphrodisia

Author: Dana Doggett

Dates: 23 June, 1, 10, 12, 14 and 16 July 2014

Distribution: Semper Fi.

Rating: strong PG-13

Category: Doggett/Scully

Timeline: post-season 9, 2003

Beta: Little Albatross

Summary: John and Dana take a well-deserved vacation in Cyprus, and get involved in an investigation that has ties to Greek mythology.

Author's Note: This is my response to the June 2014 "Summer Vacation" Semper Fi Fanfic Challenge. I've been to Cyprus many years ago and to this day the Las Palmas Restaurant and Pizza is the absolute best pizza I've ever had in my life. If you ever have the chance to visit Limassol, Cyprus make sure to go there (and steal the recipe for crust and toppings - and send that to me) and try it out. You will not be disappointed and forever it will put you on a mission to find pizza as great as theirs wherever you happen to live, but you will not be successful.

Disclaimer: "The X-Files" was created by a surfer dude, all names and situations you are familiar with belong to him ('tis unfortunate).

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"Shh, you don't want to draw any unwanted attention."

Three young, identical, blond women run down the sandy beach towards the Mediterranean Sea shore. The sun set hours ago, cooling the damp sand beneath their feet. A flash of lightening cracks across the sky, illuminating the giant rock formation known as Petra tou Romiou, the Rock of the Greek, better known as Aphrodite's birthplace.

Waves crash against the shore and the beautiful young women stop just short of knee deep in the water. Two of the sisters are on the verge of a giggle fit, the third is quiet, keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Aphrodite," the first sister does her best to withhold her giggles, "Bless myself and my sisters with everlasting love. Love that will never be taken away from us or destroyed by Amy Pointon, the slut of Denton."

She places a handful of incense in the water as her offering to Aphrodite. She looks to her sister, who sips out of a bottle of amber colored wine, some of it trickles down the white dress she is wearing. She steps forward and pours the rest of the wine into the sea.

"And, I, Aphrodite, offer you Commendaria, a local wine of this beautiful island, of which without I would not be tipsy, for your blessing of passionate sex with Brian for the rest of my life."

The two sisters giggle as the more sober of the triplets steps forward. She opens the palm of her hand and lets the wind from the incoming storm carry rose petals into the air, they fall gently into the water as it recedes back to sea. She says nothing as she stands between her sisters now, holding their hands.

They close their eyes and are silent for only a few seconds. Each of them opening their hearts and minds to the impossibility of the existence of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty. They've traveled to Paphos, Cyprus to take part in Aphrodisia, a festival held on the 4th of Hekatombaion, which this year falls this late July.

As rain drops begin to fall around them, they run back up the beach to the parked rental car. As they drive away, lightening strikes the water, and a large wave filled with sea foam rolls ashore. A gorgeous woman rises slowly from the foam, her long brown hair is dry and blows in the wind. She's nude, and her body has no imperfections. Her eyes follow the headlights of the car as it fades out of sight. Her eyes narrow as thunder cracks above her.

LARNACA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LARNACA, CYPRUS 25 JULY 2003 - 2 DAYS LATER 14:07

John Doggett stands next to baggage claim, eyeing his suitcase as the conveyor belt slowly brings his luggage to him. It is the very last piece of luggage unloaded from the plane. He glances over his shoulder at Dana Scully, his FBI partner yesterday, today she is his travel companion.

He knew she could look good in anything that she wore, but it blows his mind how hot she looks after one eight hour flight from Dulles to Heathrow, a four hour layover in London, and then another five hour flight from Heathrow to Larnaca International. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, she's wearing a plain white v-neck T-shirt, navy blue sweatpants, and white sneakers.

He looks down at his suit and tie, realizing for the first time in a long time that he really did need to take some time off to get away from work and relax. Sure at home in Virginia he wore T-shirts and jeans, but only after work and on weekends. But to appear that way in front of Agent Scully, just did not feel natural.

He pulls his suitcase off the conveyor belt and makes his way towards Dana at the Sixt Rent A Car counter. Sure she's seen him in T-shirts: the time she let herself into his home and woke him from a nightmare, or when he called her in the middle of the night to help his friend Martin Wells, and how could he forget her checking him out at the hospital in Boston when he had turned his back to her moments before in an open-back hospital gown? He hadn't had a woman, not since his first year of marriage to Barbara, check him out, eye him, and lick her lips at him - at least not that he'd noticed until Dana Scully.

"Still maintaining your stance that it's comfortable to travel in your suite and tie?"

Dana mocks him, waving the rental car keys at him. She's grinning from ear-to-ear.

He starts to smile, hoping something witty will come out of his mouth, but his eyes catch a TV monitor behind her, airing local news. The captions are in Greek so he doesn't know the story that accompanies the video of a stone statue erected in the middle of a local street market. The report cuts to a still photograph of a young blond woman. The resemblance of the girl in the photo and the stone statue is striking.

"John?" Dana places a concerning hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

John motions his head to the TV, and Dana turns to see a coroner zipping up a body bag. The head of the female victim has many small snakes attached to it, as if the snakes had become her hair.

"Looks like a X-File, that's all."

Dana notes the reluctance in his voice to forget about the job.  
>"Oh no, you don't. We're here to vacation and forget about work for one week. Don't be looking for X-Files wherever we go," she pauses and jokes with him, "Agent Mulder." She winks at him as he reacts to being called Agent Mulder. He smiles at her, shaking his head, and takes her suitcase as they head out into the warm tropical breeze outside.<p>

KANTARA VILLAGE APARTMENTS LIMASSOL, CYPRUS 19:56

The evening sky glows in hues of orange and purple over the Mediterranean Sea which can be seen from the balcony of the apartment that John and Dana have rented for their stay.

Dana sits alone on the balcony, a journal in her hand as she stares out at the sea. As she watches the sun set over the tourist city of Limassol, she finds herself drifting away with daydreams of taking a long, romantic walk on the beach with John one of these nights. How he might find his way to take her hand in his, or how she might find a way to slip her arm around his waist. The warm sea breeze caressing through her hair as he turns to her, gently cupping her face in his hands as he leans toward her with his eyes closed to...

She hears John turn off the shower inside the apartment. She shakes her mind of the thoughts she was having, and concentrates on what she is writing in her journal. She lifts her eyes mischievously and smirks.

In the past three years that she's known John she has become very much attracted to him both physically and intellectually. She's spent more and more time with him outside the basement office having lunch together, going out for drinks after work, and even catching the rare movie on weekends. At first she hadn't really considered him attractive, not conventionally anyway, but as she got to know him as John Doggett friend, instead of as Special Agent John Doggett, her heart began to melt at the sight of him. His once sharp features softened by his laugh and quiet sense of humor. His rough voice made irresistible when he'd whisper in her ear while watching a movie in the theatre, or when speaking of his mother, or his late father, or even his late son, Luke.

She's fallen for him as certain as he's fallen for her.

With Mulder; taking time to be sure of their feelings had made sense. It had been part of the fun of an eight year timeframe that it took for them to get together. But with John, eight years seems much too long to wait it out and flirt and wonder if and when anything was ever going happen.

So she suggested that she and John go on vacation together this summer. She chose a foreign country: kind of Europe, kind of the Middle East, to get them as far away as she could from the work grind of Washington, D.C. Perhaps this is what they need to take that next step.  
>John walks out on the balcony. She eyes him. Finally, he is out of his work suit and into a fitted white T-shirt and worn blue jeans. His hair is still damp and he smells of her favorite aftershave.<p>

"What's that you're writing?"

He walks towards her as she gently closes her journal. He's been wondering what she's been writing about for both of their flights and the four hour layover in London. Dana stands up, mere inches from his body. He raises his eyebrow when he notices the pretty pastel pink and white sleeveless sundress she's wearing.

"Nothing, John, just... uh... travel observations." Her face flushes just slightly, as her eyes meet his.

Her body brushes against his arm as she squeezes past him back into the small apartment. She heads to her bedroom, disappearing from John's view. He runs his hand through his hair, he'd follow her, but he doesn't feel that her room is a proper place for him to be.

"On our way in I saw a little pizza place, just off of Onisollou Street, Las Palmas. Looks family owned, just a short walk from here. Want to give it a try?" He stands outside her door, waiting for a response. He hears her close and lock her suitcase.

"Um, yeah, that sounds good." She is hesitant, but where else would they have gone out to eat on their first night on vacation? A fancy restaurant? A romantic, beach-side, cafe? Though, John has proven time and again that he is the king of finding all the great family-  
>owned, hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Perhaps this pizza place will be just perfect for night one.<p>

With nighttime setting over Limassol, John and Dana walk side-by-side about seven minutes down the road from the Kantara Village Apartments to Las Palmas pizzeria. As they turn a corner onto the main promenade, Dana brushes her hand against his, hoping he'll get the hint and hold her hand. Her heart sinks when he pulls away from her and apologizes for bumping into her.

John looks at her, his squinted eyes enhancing the brow lines on his forehead.

"Hey, why the pout?" He speaks light-hearted to her and playfully nudges his shoulder against hers. She grins and takes his hand in hers.

"John, you didn't bump into me. I was trying to get you to hold my hand."

She curls her fingers around his, caressing her thumb across his knuckles. She takes pride in the reaction she's pulled from him. He's at a loss for words so he gives her his most adorable lopsided grin, and gently squeezes his hand in hers, not letting it go as they walk toward the outdoor menu display of Las Palmas.

"At least the menu is shown in English too." John looks at her and smiles, "My Greek is pretty rusty."

"So's mine, but I actually studied Greek in high school, John." Now it is her turn to nudge her bare shoulder against his.

"C'mon, let's go get a table."

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SKINNER'S OFFICE J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING WASHINGTON, D.C. 25 JULY 2003 2:30 P.M.

Walter Skinner stares out at the traffic on Northwest Pennsylvania Avenue. This is the first day in a very long time where he's come in to work and will not have any agents working in the X-Files division. Ten years actually, and to be honest he's looking forward to not reading case reports filed by Agents Scully and Doggett. It was never his dream to become so heavily involved in the X-Files, but he's not the kind of man to turn his back on anyone, especially Agent Scully.

He lifts a cup of coffee (his fourth today) to his lips and gulps down a much needed caffeine fix to keep his day rolling. He takes a seat, adjusts his reading glasses and replaces the mug in his hand with a good ol' FBI casefile about a kidnapping and hostage situation in Maryland last week.

"Sir?" His assistant, Arlene's, voice beckons him from the intercom. "A Nicole Kuenzi is on line one, you'll want to take this."

"Than you, Arlene. Go ahead and transfer the call."

Nicole Kuenzi, that name rings a bell. His phone rings and he answers.

"This is the Assistant Director."

"Sir, my name is Nicole Kuenzi, I graduated from the FBI Academy a couple months ago."

"Yes?"

"I think I'm in danger, and I don't think local authorities or the Greek FBI attache can protect me."

"What's your situation?"

"My sister's and I, we.. we are in Cyprus to celebrate Aphrodisia, a festival for the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and..."

Skinner can hear her stifle cries over the phone.

"Agent Kuenzi?"

"I don't know how to explain this without sounding crazy, or drunk, but I can assure you that I am not, but... something... weird happened, and now my sisters are dead. Murdered, I think."

"And you think you're being targeted by the person who killed your sisters?"

"Sir, is it at all possible to send Agent Scully over to Cyprus? I was in her Forensic Pathology class at the Academy a couple years back, and she mentioned in her lecture that she had been previously assigned to investigate cases that were deemed unsolvable, or paranormal in nature."

"Agent Kuenzi, Agents Scully and Doggett are out of town on vacation."

"Honestly sir, I think they're the only ones qualified for-"

"How did your sisters die, Nicole?"

There's a long silent pause on the other side of the phone.

"They were turned into stone, like Medusa's curse only... snakes as hair, maybe turned each other into stone."

Skinner is aware that Scully and Doggett are on vacation in Cyprus. He's well aware that yet again he has two agents under him who are romantically interested in each other, and that is why they've taken this vacation together. He can't help but think: why can't Dana catch a break?

Just when her life seems to be settling down, something always pops up to upset things. She finds out she's pregnant, Mulder is abducted. Mulder is found, but he's dead. At least she has a baby to look forward to, nope, difficult pregnancy. Just as she's healing from losing Mulder and moving on in her life, Mulder is brought back to life. She gives birth to their son, Mulder leaves only a couple days later (without her and without his newborn son). Super Soldiers and alien cult members try to kidnap William. She gives him up to anonymous adoption. Mulder returns, kills a Super Soldier, gets put on trial for murder in a military court of law. He's found guilty and sentenced to death. He, Kersh, and Doggett break Mulder out, and Scully gives up everything (family, friends, work, her life) to be with him. Living her life on the run. A few months pass and she wakes up to find Mulder has left her again, leaving behind only a note telling her to go back home to her family and friends, and to pursue the normal life she's always wanted.

And all that happened only in the past three years! Nevermind her abduction, murder of her sister, bout with cancer and its mysterious remission, and the discovery that she had been made barren while she was abducted.

And now, a little over a year later, she and Doggett are vacationing together. Even Skinner knows by the time they get back that they will be together, and now to hamper things more a X-File finds its way to them in the country they're vacationing in.

Nicole's voice interrupts his thoughts, "Sir?"

"That sounds like a case for Agents Scully and Doggett." Skinners rubs the back of his neck. "They're actually in Cyprus right now, on vacation. What's a good number they can reach you at?"

LAS PALMAS RESTAURANT LIMASSOL, CYPRUS 25 JULY 2003 20:45

Las Palmas is everything one would expect from a small family owned pizzeria: on the corner of a popular promenade near the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. With its black and white tiled floors, and red and white plaid table cloths, it wound up being a perfectly quaint romantic restaurant for John and Dana.

"Mmm, John, you do know how to pick 'em." Dana wipes her mouth with a linen napkin. "Seriously, I think you managed to find the best pizza in the world."

Still chewing a bite of pizza in his mouth, John continues the praise for the pizza they're enjoying, "homemade crust, melted to perfection mozzarella cheese, fresh cut tomatoes, Italian seasoning, oregano..." he swallows and looks at her and very seriously says, "we'll have to come here at least once every five years."

"At least once every five years? I think once a year would satisfy the craving."

Dana's cell phone rings in her purse. She shares a look with John and answers.

"Hello?"

John can't make out who it is that she's speaking to, but considering the look on her face, this isn't a call she wanted to get. She motions to John to get her something to write with. He shuffles through her purse, moving aside lipstick, chapstick, a sample of Chanel No. 5 perfume, and a couple condoms before he finds a pen and notepad. He slides them across the table to her.

"What was the number again?" She jots down a phone number. "Nicole Kuenzi? Yeah, the name's familiar."

John takes another bite out of his pizza and watches her. He's forgotten to wonder about who she's talking to, instead his mind is racing with: condoms, she has condoms in her purse. Despite the fact that she took the initiative to hold his hand and convince him to vacation with her on this beautiful island, he wonders if perhaps there's a plan for her to meet up with Mulder. He can't believe for a second that only a year later that Dana Scully would plan to have condoms in her purse when she's only going to be in his company. She must have plans to excuse herself from him at some point to meet up with Mulder.

Eventually, she hangs up.

"Who was that?" He hopes his voice doesn't reveal his feelings. He tries his best to remain professional.

"That was Assistant Director Skinner, apparently a former student of mine is in Cyprus and has requested that you and I look into her sisters' deaths."

"An X-File?"

"John, it looks like you and I will be investigating claims that Medusa is alive and well on the island, and turned this girl's sisters into stone."

LIMASSOL PUBLIC LIBRARY LIMASSOL, CYPRUS 26 JULY 2003 08:16

Although last night did not turn out as Dana had hoped, this morning at the apartment began well. At some point, while she was still asleep, John had gotten up and bought them fresh fruit from a market a few streets over. By the time she was showered, dressed and ready to head to the library, John had the breakfast table set, complete with a pink stargazer lily (her favorite) as a center piece. This was not what she had expected from John (turned Agent Doggett by last night's phone call from Skinner).

As she sits next to him at the long oak table in the back of the library, she is trying her best to engage in research, but with his sleeves rolled up and his reading glasses on, she's nothing less than distracted.

"In one Greek myth, the goddess Aphrodite placed a curse of snakes for hair, and the stone-gaze upon Medusa and her sisters." John speaks low and leans toward her, his finger placed on the page of the book he's reading.

Dana rests her cheek on her hand and considers what he's read.

"Are you suggesting we're not just dealing with some killer who sets his victims in stone, but instead the actual Medusa herself?"

John bestows his lop-sided grin on her.

"Says here that Aphrodite was jealous of the three sisters' beauty, so much that she cursed them. Weren't Nicole and her sisters here to celebrate some festival for Aphrodite? Maybe what we're dealing with here is some kind of Greek mythology come to life."

Dana sits up straight and sighs, placing her hand on John's forearm.

"You know you've been assigned to the X-Files too long when..." She winks at him.

John's brow wrinkles and he looks her in the eye.

"Hey, you're supposed to be the expert."

"Not when you're the one jumping to unimaginable conclusions." She smiles. "I mean, John, you're basically suggesting the existence of Greek mythological deities."

"People all over the world believe in God, in some form or another." He pushes the book aside. "Look, Nicole Kuenzi came here to worship and celebrate Aphrodite. You gotta believe that means she believes in the power of this goddess's existence."

Dana raises an eyebrow.

"Then what about Rati, Qandisa, Venus, Yue-Lao, Dzydz... Dzydzil," she lets out a frustrated sigh and tries one more time, "Dzydzilelya-"

John laughs, "Say that fast three times!"

Dana playfully punches his shoulder.

"Point is, John, those were all goddesses of love, beauty, and sexuality. All named differently depending on the culture from which they were created. Why would Aphrodite, here in Cyprus, be the one goddess to actually exist?"

"For the obvious reason."

"Which is?"

"Aphrodite is better known than those others that you named, except for maybe Venus."

Frustrated at having to work a X-File, and frustrated that this case has interrupted her plans to turn her friendship with John into something more, Dana sighs heavily and rests her forehead on the table in front of her.

"Now, Agent Scully-"

"Dana." Her voice is muffled, her forehead remains fixed on the table top.

"-Dana, I'm playing along with the pieces of the puzzle that are in place. What if we are dealing with some kind of Aphrodite-Medusa jealousy thing?"

Dana raises her head and looks at him, "Thing?"

"For lack of a better word." He smiles, seemingly having fun with this aspect of the case.

"In the hopes of solving this one quickly, I say lets go talk to Nicole." She stands up.

"And hopefully we won't turn into stone."

PETRA TOU ROMIOU PATHOS, CYPRUS 26 JULY 2003 09:46

John and Dana pull up into the parking lot. John shifts the car into park and looks left to Dana in the passenger seat. She's finishing a call she got only minutes ago. She hangs up.

"That was the M.E. over in Larnaca, and though his English is broken I managed to understand that the stone statues of Nicole's sisters were not rock solid."

"What do you mean?" John's gaze falls behind Dana, and out to Nicole, who is wading in the water next to the giant rock formation known as Aphrodite's Birthplace.

"When he cracked the rock, it eventually gave way, crumbling around the bodies of Leah and Monica Kuenzi."

"Like a stone cast?"

"Like a stone cast." She nods her head.

"How'd anyone do that?"

"I don't know."

"And in the middle of a street no less." He sighs.

Dana smiles at him. When they first began working together she found his reluctance to believe in the unexplained hindering on obnoxious, but now, she finds it charming. He runs his hand through his hair, and unbuckles his seatbelt. She stops him before he opens the car door.

"One more thing, Agent Doggett." She smiles, having used her flirtatious voice.

"It's John." His voice is lowered, and doing his best to hide a grin.

"John... their hair is made of snakes."

Dana unbuckles her seatbelt and exits the car. She smiles to herself, knowing exactly the perplexed look that must be written across John's face right now. She makes her way towards Nicole on the beach as John sits, stupefied, in the car. Eventually he catches up to her.

They make their way to shore where Nicole stands, silently, staring out to sea.

"Miss Kuenzi?" John holds up his FBI badge.

Dana gives him a look, her raised eyebrow asking: you brought that? He shrugs.

Without turning to face them, Nicole speaks.

"It's all my fault, Agent Scully."

Dana steps towards her, sympathetic to her loss. "You know that's not true, Nicole."

Nicole turns to face her, tears streaming down her face.

"I knew the myth, but still I convinced my sisters to take part in Aphrodisia this year!"

"You know that you can't be held accountable-"

"-But I am!"

Dana looks back at John, who has let Dana take the lead.

"They were turned to stone! They had become Medusa!" She sobs. "What if I was the one that cursed them?! What if their deaths are all my fault?!"

"Nicole..." Dana moves to rest a comforting hand on Nicole's shoulder, she backs away.

"You should stay as far away from me as possible! I've upset the goddess and now she's after me!"

"Who's after you?"

Frustrated, Nicole rolls her eyes. "Aphrodite!" She pauses. "I took my worship of her too far. I-I found a cult, the cult of Aphrodite, and I had sex with her priestesses as a way to prove my devotion to her, only I think somehow my belief in her has brought her to life and I've upset her!"

John steps forward.

"Do you know how we can find her? Aphrodite?"

Nicole stares at him, her expression telling him that she has no idea how to summon the goddess.

KANTARA APARTMENTS LIMASSOL, CYPRUS 26 JULY 2003 20:37

After a long day of chasing dead ends looking for Aphrodite, finally John and Dana return to the apartment. John heads straight for the couch and slumps into the corner. He rubs his tired eyes with his fingers. Dana checks the refrigerator and comes back to the living room.

"We've got nothing to eat." She sees he's already kicked off his shoes. "Look, why don't you take a shower, and I'll go grab us a pizza from down the street."

"That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day."

John stands up, and resists the urge to plant a kiss on her forehead. Instead he opens up his wallet and hands her some money.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They stand close together, she looking up into his eyes, and he down into hers. After another beat Dana breaks their gaze and quietly leaves the apartment to pick up dinner, making sure to put the money John gave her into her purse.

John looks around and heads to his bedroom. He passes by the open door of Dana's room and sees her journal lying open at the foot of her bed. He stops and considers looking at it. Changes his mind, and heads to the bathroom. He shakes his head to himself and back tracks.

John enters her room and picks up her journal, flipping its pages. He wonders what exactly anyone would write in a travel journal. He stops mid-flip and starts reading.

... and I melt in his arms as he wraps them around my body. The side of his cheek gently pressed against mine. My back is pressed firmly against his bare chest. The faint scent of his aftershave only adds to my desire to feel his body on top of mine, to taste his lips on my own. I feel his breath on the back of my neck as he whispers my name, "Dana..." My eyes close, and I gasp as I feel his hands move slowly to my hips, inward towards my lower abdomen, and then down oh so very slowly in between my legs, underneath his USMC boxer shorts that I am wearing.

John lets out a hard breath and sits down on her bed. He knows this fantasy of hers is about Mulder. Perhaps he shouldn't be reading it. Perhaps her excuse to go pick up dinner was really about her running off to go meet somewhere secret with Mulder. Though he knows he shouldn't, he turns the page and keeps reading.

"Give yourself to me, Dana." His lips suck gently on my ear lobe, and his voice sends a chill up my spine, and I release his name from my lips, "John."

The blood could not rush any faster to John's center. His face flushes red, and his breathing becomes uneven. She's writing about she and him. He really, really should not be reading this.

I turn to face him, running the backs of my finger tips up his bare chest. I glide my thumb over his erect nipple. I fight off every urge I have to roll my tongue over his nipples, to begin pleasuring only him. Lord knows he's wanted this longer than I've known. I wonder if he knows that I know his desire for me began long before Mulder's funeral.

John licks his lips and swallows hard. How long has it been obvious to her that he wants her? Does she know that he's fallen in love with her, despite his best efforts to push those feelings aside out of respect for her relationship with Mulder? John skips a couple of pages, wanting to know if she describes the deed.

... he spreads my legs, his hands pressing against my inner thighs. I'm embarrassed for only a moment then realize just how erotic it is that John Doggett is taking hold of himself, stroking his length as he stares at my naked body. I reach forward and gently finger the underside of his penis. My other hand holds the back of his neck and pulls his mouth to mine. I help lead him into me as his fingers begin massaging my clit. He murmers into my ear, "you're so wet."

John slams Dana's journal shut. Stands up quickly, throws the journal down on the bed, and heads to the shower. He best hurry this up before she gets back and hears him relieving himself of the full-on erection he has after having read her little story!

That night he lies in bed, his thoughts about what he's read in Dana's journal keeping him wide awake. He had always hoped for a sign that he had even a slim chance at being with her, but what he read was no travel journal, it was erotica about he and Dana, written by Dana herself! Those were her thoughts and desires for him! He turns onto his side, restless. He sighs, it's only a few minutes after one in the morning.

He hears a sound emit from her room, against the wall their rooms share. Immediately his thoughts turn: does she touch herself thinking of me? Is what she writes the fantasies she thinks about while touching herself?

He hears her moan quietly. Is she just settling in, or...? He did pass by her room before calling it a night and saw her writing in her "travel" journal again.

He hears her gasp as the bed creaks in a soft rhythm.

It takes every bit of his military training, and mental toughness to stay in bed instead of getting up to check on her (but what if he did?).

Then he hears her moan his name, "John..."

He throws his pillow over his head to block her out. She has no idea that he can hear her through the wall (or does she?!), and he needs to do everything he can to make sure it stays that way. The first thought he has to keep himself from becoming aroused by her right now is of someone who is much like a sister to him: Monica Reyes.

KANTARA APARTMENTS LIMASSOL, CYPRUS 27 JULY 2003 03:19

The loud ringtone John has on his cell phone startles him awake. He turns on the lamp on the nightstand and picks up his wristwatch, it's nineteen minutes past three in the morning, who would be calling him at this hour?

"John Doggett." He answers.

"Agent Doggett, this is police investigator Stamitos Pagonis. There's been another development in the Kuenzi sisters case, and I'm afraid not a good one."

PETRA TOU ROMIOU PAPHOS, CYPRUS 03:53

Police investigator Stamitos Pagonis stands taller than the other crime scene investigators around him. His jet black hair compliments his tanned skin. He stares out toward the Mediterranean shore, shaking his head. Whatever it is that he's looking at, it baffles him unlike anything else he's seen on the job in his thirty-three years of service.

Officer Pagonis turns around when he hears a car door shut, and John Doggett identifies himself and Dana as FBI. Pagonis waves the two of them over to him.

"Agents Doggett and Scully." Pagonis extends his hand to them in greeting. "If only we could have met under better circumstances."

"You said there's another development?" John is concerned, eyeing the crime scene unit on the beach.

"The American, Kuenzi..." he struggles to find the words, "first, we know, her sisters turned to stone, and now this..."

Pagonis motions them to follow him towards the shore. As they close in on the evidence the crime scene unit is collecting, John and Dana see a young female body lying on the sand, beheaded. Pagonis looks to Dana, who hasn't flinched at the sight of the body. John doesn't turn away, but he wrinkles his nose in disgust.

"Have you a positive ID on the victim?" Dana asks, remaining professional.

"The identification card she had in her purse," he points a few feet from where the body lies, "says she's Nicole Danielle Kuenzi." He pauses to let them take this in. "I am hoping that the FBI attache in Greece will speed up the process of verifying identification if one of you two gives them a call. I already had one of my men send a digital print to them."

Dana nods and pulls out her cell phone, "What's the number to the attache?"

Pagonis hands her a piece of paper in which he wrote down the number.

"Thank you." Dana steps away from him and John to make the call.

Pagonis looks to John who is shaking his head. John catches his eye.

"Agent Scully and I spent time at the library yesterday, researching Greek mythology. Mostly Aphrodite because we were told the Kuenzi sisters were here for Aphrodisia." Pagonis nods his head, listening to him. "Because Nicole's sisters had been turned to stone, I looked into Medusa." John pauses. "Now I'm not the type to easily believe in the stories from Greek mythology, but I read that Medusa was killed by beheading, and that her head was used as a weapon by her killer, and later given to Athena for her shield."

John sees Dana walking back towards them. He continues.

"And this is a big what if, but... what if Greek mythology got it right? I mean, what if we're all here investigating this as modern crime when in actuality Greek gods, goddesses, and monsters are around us living out their stories?"

Officer Pagonis looks at John as if he's lost his mind.

"John," Dana's tone reflects her desire to help her partner not look like a fool, "or it could be cult members, or your everyday criminal taking Greek mythology too far. Or a killer hoping to get away with murder, hoping local media and authorities will default to Greek mythology as an explanation."

John rubs the back of his neck. "I guess you're right, Agent Scully." He looks to Pagonis, "Has her head been found?"

"No, it has not." He looks to Dana. "What did the FBI say?"

"I spoke with Agent Davis, and he was able to run the finger prints you had sent over, and he verified that our victim is Nicole Kuenzi."

"Well," Pagonis sighs, "I guess your work here is done. I know you were called in on special assignment to help out, but my men and I can take it from here as this falls under our jurisdiction." He extends his hand to them. Scully shakes his hand.

"Please keep us informed, officer. Nicole was one of my students at the Academy a couple years ago. Sweet girl, makes me sick knowing that this happened to her."

"Of course, of course. This is not a problem."

"I wish there had been more Agent Scully and I could have done to prevent this." John says then shakes Pagonis' hand.

"Isn't that always the way of it?" He musters a smile.

"If you need any further help we're here for the next five days." John offers.

"Go enjoy your vacation." Pagonis motions for them to leave the case to him and other local authorities.

"We will." Dana smiles as she loops her arm through John's to lead him back to their car.

They didn't discuss the case on the drive back to the apartment complex. Both John and Dana keeping their thoughts to themselves until they got back to their apartment only a few minutes past five in the morning. Their involvement in this case was cut short by Nicole's death, and there's nothing more they can do while in Cyprus to help.

John looks out the window and sees that the sky is flirting with the sun to rise.

"So do we stay up or try to get another couple hours of sleep?" John asks then yawns.

Dana slips off her shoes, and untucks her shirt, unbuttoning the top three buttons.

She steps toward John and holds his arms with her hands. She runs her hands up to his shoulders and slips his suit jacket off, dropping it on the floor. She inches towards him again and rests her head on his chest and sighs, wrapping her arms around his waist. She closes her eyes.

"Dana?" His voice is a whisper.

She looks up at him. He sees the sadness in her eyes, and he knows what she is feeling. She's tired. Not just physically, but tired of the job, tired of working unsolvable cases, and dealing with the paranormal and unexplained. She's tired of the darkness that their case load brings into her life. It's why a couple years ago she left her assignment to the X-  
>Files to teach at Quantico. But when she returned after Mulder left her, she had asked specifically to be reassigned to the basement office. Maybe this is the beginning of a new chapter for them both. He hasn't yet told her, but he's been offered reassignment to the FBI's counter terrorism unit in the wake of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom this past March. The only thing keeping him on the X-Files is Dana.<p>

He wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. Perhaps this interruption of their vacation has reminded her of one of the reasons why she didn't come back to the X-  
>Files in the first place after she gave birth to her son.<p>

"Sweetheart...?" He whispers again, surprising even himself with the term of endearment used.

"I'm tired, John. Why don't we go lay down for a bit?"

She pulls back, still in his arms. She puts her hand in his and leads him to her bed. The blankets are already turned down from only having gotten up a few hours ago. She crawls in, and John slips off his shoes and lies next to her. He spoons up behind her, and feels her hand gently hold onto his own.

"Thank you, John..." Her voice quivers, not hiding the fact that she's crying.

He pulls her closer to him.

"Shhh..."

He kisses her on the cheek to comfort her.

"What will I tell Nicole's parents?"

"You don't have to, Dana. That's not your responsibility."

"Her mother and father lost three of their children in two days time, what will that do to them?"

John caresses his thumb on her forearm. They both know all too well what it feels like to lose a child. He knows he doesn't have to answer her question. She cries harder, and he's fairly certain it's not just about the Kuenzi case. This case has made her think about her son, William. It must torment her not knowing where he is, and that she felt that she couldn't protect him so she gave him up to adoption.

He continues to hold her in his arms until he knows that she is asleep. He closes his eyes and hopes that despite this rough start to their first summer vacation together that when they wake up it will be a better day.

10:27

John stands outside on the balcony, gazing across the rooftops and palm trees below. He can see the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. His mind flips back and forth from Dana to the Kuenzi case and Frohike's words from a case he worked alone when he was first assigned to the X-Files, "they believe it, it happens," and back to Dana again.

Dana Scully, his partner, his friend. He has a feeling that other than Mulder, he's been one of few that Dana has shown vulnerability to.

Dana stands behind him, wearing his tan USMC T-shirt and bulldog USMC boxer shorts. Her hair is still wet from the shower she just took. She hasn't yet put on any makeup which makes her look younger than she is.

She takes a moment to watch John. After these past few days it's become obvious that the two of them want to be together, and she's not afraid of getting caught admiring him shirtless in only his gray FBI sweatpants (as she's written about so many times in her secret journal). She's not afraid to confront the scene that went down between them when they got back to the apartment earlier this morning, sleeping in the same bed together.

The deaths of the Kuenzi sisters brought back emotions she had been trying to ignore about William, and her thoughts of how John lost his son nearly ten years ago. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, and walks toward him.

"Good morning, John."

He turns to her, she's closer to him than he expected so he takes initiative and wraps his arms around her waist. He looks down at her and a sense of pride washes over him when he sees she is wearing his clothing (just like she wrote in her stories).

He brushes a strand of her wet hair from her cheek, and looks her in the eye and says boldly, yet in the tone of voice he'd expect she'd written in her stories, "Give yourself to me, Dana."

He places his hands on her hips, caressing her with his fingertips. He kisses her, her mouth opening to allow him access to her tongue. He runs one hand to her lower back, and slowly moves his other hand from her hip to her lower abdomen, slipping two fingers just underneath the elastic band of his USMC boxer shorts.

Dana responds well, moaning her approval into his mouth. She wraps both her arms around his neck, and kisses him with more passion, wanting more, and he's happy to oblige. He pulls away from her after a moment.

"Why don't we take this to your room..." He's breathless.

Dana smiles at the notion, and he's unsure if she got his hint that he'd found her stories and read parts of them. She takes his hand and leads him back to her bed, where they would end up spending the rest of the day.

PANTHEON CAFE KARPATHOS, GREECE 30 JULY 2003 17:46

A man, mid-30s, with a muscular build enters the cafe. He has dark brown hair and green eyes. He searches the room, looking for someone he is here to meet. In his hand is a ten inch square cubed box. His eyes rest on a woman sitting at the bar, nursing her Martini. He crosses the room and takes a seat next to her, looking around her with a hint of paranoia.

"Athena?"

"Yes?" She looks at him as she sips her drink.

"I have something for you. Something that will help you on your quests."

The man sets the box on the top of the bar. The woman eyes it appreciatively.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"It is."

She smiles malevolently. "Thank you, Perseus."

END

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More Author's Notes: I know next to nothing about Greek mythology, I relied heavily on Wikipedia to create the casefile in this story. This story is my response to the Semper Fi ( .com) June 2014 "Summer Vacation" Fanfic Challenge:

Doggett and Scully are taking a well-deserved summer vacation in Europe, but they can't seem to shake getting away from mysterious happenings. Their vacation - which both had hoped would bring them closer together - threatens to keep them from admitting their true feelings for each other. Will helping out with a foreign X-File keep them from hooking up? Or will John and Dana enjoy the end of their vacation the way they both envisioned?

Include two (2) of the following: - mishap at a hotel - missing luggage - first kiss - a romantic threat to John and Dana getting together - a sexy secret of Scully's is revealed!

Story length and rating are up to you. You can chose any location in Europe that you'd like John and Dana to vacation, and you get to pick the mysterious happening/X-File!


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